Australian's built on a century by Marcus North and removing the dangerous Sehwag and Dravid early, had the Indians on the mat, as the tourists seized control of the second and final cricket Test against India on Sunday. Australia rode on left-hander North's 128 to reach 478 in their first innings before they were all out at the stroke of tea on the second day at the Chinnaswamy stadium.
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| North acknowledges the team's applause after completing a fine 100 |
The selectors must have been thrilled with North's hundred, as this century would mean that he takes part in the Ashes, - He either does not perform at all or scores more than 50+ When he bats as he did in Bangalore, it's hard to work out how he can produce so many low scores. He must surely aim for greater consistency and fewer grand failures. His team mates appreciated his effort as he became the side's top scrorer for the third time in his 31 test innings. Let us not forget for the fact that he averaged 6 in his last 6 matches. North was especially strong with his drives through cover and straight down the ground, which were generally timed to perfection. Importantly, he batted with control, choosing carefully which deliveries to leave and waiting for opportunities to score, and he even lashed out with a slog-swept six off Pragyan Ojha
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| Paine-North partneship seized control of the test |
North and Paine batted through the morning session to take the overnight score of 285-5 to 384 without further loss by lunch. The duo hammered the Indian pace attack of Zaheer Khan and Sreesanth to keep the scoreboard moving briskly in the first hour.
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| Ponting is cook-a-hoop after getting out the local boy for 1 |
Sehwag smashed a typically robust 30 off 28 balls, including a six over third-man off Mitchell Johnson, before he was caught at deep square-leg off Ben Hilfenhaus. Dravid edged a catch off Johnson to reduce India to 38-2. Rahul Dravid's woes in his home town continued: in 14 Test innings here he has scored 283 runs at 20.21, with a highest of 60.
Aussies silenced the estimated 22,000 home fans by removing them in the space of a run, before India recovered to end the day on 128-2 thanks to a 90-run unbeaten stand between Vijay and Saachin. Tendulkar was unbeaten on a fluent 44, having extended his world record tally to 14,017 runs. Vijay kept him company on 42.
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| Sachin raises his bat after completing 14000 runs in Test Cricket |
There is no VVS Laxman to torment Australia this time, but Tendulkar and Vijay were frustrating enough in a 90-run partnership. Australia still need to see off Sachin Tendulkar to feel any degree of comfort in Bangalore. The Australians must win to avoid a series defeat
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